Academic Training

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What is Academic Training?

Academic Training authorizes a J-1 student to accept employment or participate in training opportunities, such as an internship or practicum, directly related to his or her major field of study. Academic Training may be authorized for paid employment or unpaid training. Note: While students may work for more than one employer while on Academic Training, each employer and Academic Training segment must be approved separately.

Eligibility

You must have a valid, unexpired DS-2019;

You must be in good academic standing at the University of Iowa;

Your primary purpose in the U.S. must be to study rather than to engage in Academic Training;

Your employment or training must be directly related to your major field of study and an integral part of your academic program;

You must receive an updated DS-2019 and written approval from ISSS before beginning the employment or training;

You must maintain health insurance coverage as required by J-1 regulations. For more information about the Health Insurance requirement, please the U.S. Department of State website.

Note: If you have J-1 program sponsor other than University of Iowa (as indicated in section two on your DS-2019), you must seek authorization for Academic Training from your program sponsor.

Pre-completion Academic Training

Academic Training may be authorized during your program of study. You must maintain full-time enrollment (12 s.h. for undergraduates or 9 s.h. for graduate students, or 6 s.h. for grad students with assistantships of 25%-time or greater). Note: concurrent enrollment at other schools is not permitted while on Academic Training.

Pre-completion Academic Training must be registered as cooperative education with the appropriate career center. (See instructions below.)

Pre-completion Academic Training is normally part-time but may be full-time under certain conditions. Please discuss your plans with an ISSS advisor.

Post-completion Academic Training

Post-completion Academic Training must be authorized prior to the date on which you complete your program of study and/or before your DS-2019 expires, whichever comes first.

For post-completion Academic Training, employment must begin no later than 30 days after completion of studies. Note: Your authorized period of academic training will begin on the day after you complete your studies, whether or not you begin working on this day.

Students participating in post-completion Academic Training must provide evidence of adequate funding for living expenses and health insurance during the training period. Note: Students must also provide proof of health insurance coverage.

Time Limits for Academic Training

If your program was...

You are eligible for...

One semester or less

You may be eligible for up to four (4) months. See an ISSS advisor for additional information.

One full academic year

You may be eligible for up to nine (9) months. See an ISSS advisor for additional information.

Undergraduate Degree or Master’s Degree or Professional Degree

Maximum of eighteen (18) months, or the period of full course of study in the U.S., whichever is less.

Doctoral degree

Maximum of thirty-six (36) months, or the period of full course of study in the U.S., whichever is less.

The total number of months of Academic Training may not exceed the total number of months of study, unless the Academic Training is required to fulfill degree requirements. Note: Non-degree J-1 students should meet with an ISSS advisor to discuss eligibility and time limits.

Academic Training done prior to the completion of your program of study will reduce the number of months of Academic Training available after you complete your program of study. For example: three months of Academic Training taken during the summer between two semesters will reduce your total amount of Academic Training by three months.

Academic Training Application Instructions

1. Obtain a job offer letter from your employer. The job offer letter must be on letterhead and include all of the following information:

Job/position title

Description of employment

Employment dates

Location and address of employment

Salary, if any

Number of hours to be worked per week

Name, email address and phone number of your supervisor

2. Pre-completion Academic Training: (only for those who are doing Academic Training while still in the degree program; students who are doing Academic Training after graduation do not have to do this) register your internship with the appropriate career center

College of Engineering Students—Apply with Career Services office, 3124 SC

MBA students—Apply with Career Services office, C432PC (you will find the online internship application form on your Simplicity homepage)

Tippie College of Business Students-- Request to enroll in this course through your HireaHawk.com account by going to the Report Internships link and providing the requested details. Make sure this is done before you submit your CPT e-form to ISSS. Registering the internship is required and satisfies federal government conditions for CPT. A staff person from the Undergraduate Program Office in the Tippie College of Business will then email you with with instructions on how to register for the course in MyUI. You MUST log on to MyUI to then register for the course so it appears on your transcript.

All other programs of study— Pomerantz Career Center website - Follow the instructions on this website to list your internship information with the Career Center. Make sure this is done before you visit an ISSS advisor. Registering the internship is required and satisfies federal government conditions for CPT.

If your internship is for 10 or more hours per week and will last at least 10 weeks during the fall or spring or 8 weeks during the summer, the Career Center will then send you a department and course number to register for. You MUST log on to MyUI to then register this internship so it appears on your transcript.

If your internship is for less than 10 hours/week or for short duration, no department and course number will be sent to you by the Career Center.

3. Pre-completion Academic Training: If you are a graduate student with a 50% assistantship requesting permission to work more than 20 hours/week on campus during the fall or spring semester at another assistantship position, you must first receive permission from the Graduate College to do so. Meet with your academic advisor to request a recommendation letter or email, addressed to Dean Sarah Larsen, supporting your request to work more than 50%. Have the letter mailed or emailed to Dean Sarah Larsen, Graduate College or sarah-larsen@uiowa.edu . Dean Sarah Larsen will review the recommendation letter based on the following criteria as stated by the academic advisor: (1) the additional position has more than a monetary benefit, (2) the position won’t interfere with progress towards the degree, (3) the student is making good progress towards degree completion. If the Graduate College denies the request, you will not receive Academic Training authorization from ISSS. If the Graduate College approves the request, bring a copy of the approval email or letter to ISSS along with the rest of the Academic Training application material listed.

Once you complete the e-form, your academic advisor will need to review it. Your advisor will receive an email message from ISSS which will provide a link to review your request. Your advisor will be asked to comment on your request.

If you are advised by the Academic Advising Center, you must make an appointment to meet with your advisor before they will approve the e-form request.

If you are advised in an academic department, your departmental advisor may also prefer that you schedule an appointment to meet with them; it is a good idea to inform your academic advisor that he/she has been sent an email from the ISSS that will need to be reviewed and approved.

After your advisor comments on your e-form request, you will receive an e-mail from ISSS telling you to meet an advisor during walk-in hours. If there are no questions regarding your request, an advisor will approve the e-form and issue an amended DS-2019 and Academic Training letter.